THE first major overhaul of train times in years has received a cautious welcome from north Essex passengers.

National Express East Anglia introduced a new timetable this week to provide better rush hour services on the mainline to London.

The train operator has changed the schedule to include extra carriages, providing 4,000 additional seats in and out of the City at peak times.

Derek Monnery, chairman of Essex Rail Users’ Federation, said: “On the whole I think it’s gone quite well, especially considering we haven’t had a major change like this since about 2004.

“The provision of more space has worked – I’d have been very surprised if it hadn’t – and I think National Express East Anglia did everything it could to publicise the changes.”

He said one glitch was that there were fewer “through” trains and more services reliant on changing for connections.

Mr Monnery said his train home from a meeting with National Express East Anglia in London on Monday was delayed, meaning passengers missed connections to three different branch lines.

He added: “That’s a bit concerning. We’re pushing for half-hourly services on every branch line in Essex, which wouldn’t mean waiting so long if a connection isn’t held because of a delayed train.”

He said any concerns about the timetable could be put to the federation on its website www.eruf.org Commuter Annabel Lockyer was not happy about the 7.45am and 8am Intercity trains from Colchester to London being stopped.

The 28-year-old, from Colchester, said: “I can’t understand why they’ve stopped two of the most popular trains in the mornings. As you can imagine, there are a lot of very angry people on the platform at North Station every morning,”

A National Express East Anglia spokesman said: “The new timetable is providing an additional 1,300 seats in the morning peak period to London, and an extra 2,100 seats during the evening peak for Colchester rail passengers, as part of the £155million investment National Express East Anglia has agreed with the Department for Transport for new and additional carriages.

“We are also closely monitoring the timetable and doing everything possible to ensure the new timetable performs well and provides the best opportunity for everyone to obtain a seat at the busiest times of the day.”

She said there was a “robust” policy to ensure connecting trains were met, wherever possible.